IPL, spot fixing, England's on top... you know things are terrible when the Poms are winning

Being English myself, not sure I fully agree with that.

Obviously my job means I have to keep fairly up to date with news across most sports and betting scandals seem to be regular news items, what is happening to the world when sport is experiencing problems like this?

Has it always been this way or am I just getting old and seeing things through rose tinted specs?

It's been this way for a while tbf. Think the spectre of online betting is putting things like spot-fixes more in the limelight though.

Maybe, I work in the sports betting industry but we stay out of the murkier side of things, we're constantly getting people approaching us and saying they can offer us info on fixed races or matches and I would say that 99% of the time, it's probably all talk in the hope of picking up some money.

I've seen sites that advertise info on these "fixed" matches and their record is very spotty.

Hopefully I'm going to be talking to lots of people who have much more knowledge about the sport than I currently possess so anything I can pick up will be useful.

Nothing worse than feeling disadvantaged in a conversation when you're supposed to have at least a reasonable idea of what you're talking about.

Ah I see where you're coming from now.

Well, T20 has kicked off in a huge way, and is arguably affecting players' techniques. India is now the global money tree and wields power over the global game in proportion to it. Australia have declined a bit, and are only now starting to really have a resurgence. England have built up a high-quality team. South Africa also, though they continue to struggle to put the results on the board that their quality on paper would suggest. India briefly stood out from the pack, then fell back and just kept on falling. Sri Lanka forgot to pay their players. West Indies have a ridiculous board. Pakistan have had spot fixing, security issues (including a terrorist attack on the SL team), retirements and unretirements galore, made an application for the title of having The Worst Board Chairman In History, then suddenly discovered that a stable, solid team could actually bring results, and Michael Clarke hit a ridiculous 151 at Cape Town ().

Well, T20 has kicked off in a huge way, and is arguably affecting players' techniques. India is now the global money tree and wields power over the global game in proportion to it. Australia have declined a bit, and are only now starting to really have a resurgence. England have built up a high-quality team. South Africa also, though they continue to struggle to put the results on the board that their quality on paper would suggest. India briefly stood out from the pack, then fell back and just kept on falling. Sri Lanka forgot to pay their players. West Indies have a ridiculous board. Pakistan have had spot fixing, security issues (including a terrorist attack on the SL team), retirements and unretirements galore, made an application for the title of having The Worst Board Chairman In History, then suddenly discovered that a stable, solid team could actually bring results, and Michael Clarke hit a ridiculous 151 at Cape Town ().

Good stuff, that helps me catch up, now just to stay on top of it all.

Last 5 years, major thing that has dominated cricket? IPL. The IPL has demolished the way we think about the game

Do you think it could also have lead to the apparent necessity of a wicketkeeper being able to bat? I could also (somewhat angrily) relate this to Gilchrist as CW's ATG selection when he is nowhere near the best gloveman.

Do you think it could also have lead to the apparent necessity of a wicketkeeper being able to bat? I could also (somewhat angrily) relate this to Gilchrist as CW's ATG selection when he is nowhere near the best gloveman.

It depends on how you look at it. If you look at his wicketkeeping alone then you will find him near average. But it is the way he transformed the role of a wicketkeeper, don't you think?

The company I work for is branching out into cricket and I'm ashamed to admit, it's been a long time since I took in a game.

I really need a refresher course.

What are the big changes that have come about over the last 5 years that I really ought to know?

The good news mate, is according to many people who post here, you don't need to watch the game. You can get all the knowledge you want to judge players and how they performed by reading a spreadsheet full of statistics.

I know it must sound weird, approaching this as you do from a real world perspective, but it's how some sunlight-deprived people view the cricketing world.

WWCC - Loyaulte Mi Lie

"Hope is the fuel of progress and fear is the prison in which you put yourself" - Tony Benn

The good news mate, is according to many people who post here, you don't need to watch the game. You can get all the knowledge you want to judge players and how they performed by reading a spreadsheet full of statistics.

I know it must sound weird, approaching this as you do from a real world perspective, but it's how some sunlight-deprived people view the cricketing world.

Stats are great (hey I work for a company related to betting, stats are an everyday thing for me) but in terms of judging a player or a game, I have to watch it with my own eyes.

We've been producing videos with another company where we try to give out winning tips and the ones where I have actually been able to watch the games leading up to it, are the ones where I have the greatest success rate.

Luckily (for our clients), I'm not one of the tipsters, they have a lot more time to watch & analyze matches.

Now I've been tasked to find reliable cricket tipsters and decided that I really ought to catch up with changes in the game so I have some idea of what I'm talking about!